


The Missing Spare

by Hazellum



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, Melody's Royalty AU, So yeah, but like, if Arc 2 was kickstarted before all the angst had a chance to take place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27479242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazellum/pseuds/Hazellum
Relationships: Dib & Zib, Zib & Gaz, Zim & Dib, Zim & Zib, Zim/Dib
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	The Missing Spare

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MelodyoftheVoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Royal Dance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092205) by [MelodyoftheVoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/pseuds/MelodyoftheVoid). 



“Wait, you’re teaching yourself magic? That’s so cool! Would you mind showing me a few spells?” Dib asked, smiling. He asked it as if it was no big deal, as if this wasn’t the only thing Zib had that was his own. Dib didn’t even realize how much it hurt, being the spare. He faked a smile and agreed, before flipping through one of his spellbooks. Surely there was something in here that would… His eyes landed on a certain page.

“Y’know, I’ve always felt like I was just your reflection, like that was all I was good for,” Zib said, before he started casting. However, midway through casting, just as Dib was starting to realize that all was not right, Zib stopped, came to his senses.

“Wh… what am I doing?" he whispered aloud, realizing what he had almost just done, how terrible it would have been.

“What?” Dib asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Dib, get out,” Zib said, gripping the side of the table. When Dib didn’t move, he repeated himself, more forcefully. “Get. Out! Please,” he said, his voice breaking on the last word. As Dib left, Zib sank to the ground, feeling like there was a block of ice in his stomach.

What he’d just almost done… It would have destroyed everything. His family, himself, everything he had. And he’d almost done it, all because of how badly it hurt, being the spare. Zib sat there for hours, shaking. Eventually, he made a decision. If him being the spare had almost destroyed everything he loved, he wouldn’t be the spare anymore.

“Dib, can we talk?” Zib asked, knocking on Dib’s door.

“Yeah, come on in,” he heard Dib call from the other side. When Zib opened the door, he saw Zim sitting on the edge of Dib’s bed, while Dib sat at his writing desk. The two of them must have been talking.

“I just wanted to say… thanks for being my brother, I guess. I- I want you to know that I do love you, and that I don’t hold anything against you. The fact that I’ve always felt like the spare, I mean. If that’s anyone’s fault, its our father’s. You’re my brother, and I’ll always lvoe you,” Zib said, standing in the doorway. ‘And Zim... Take care of Dib for me, okay?” Before either Zim or Dib could respond, Zib turned and left, walking down the hall towards the training grounds. That was where he expected Gaz would be.

Zim had no grand words for Gaz, no speech. He just walked up to her while she was sitting on a bench between bouts, and she seemed to get what was going on.

“When will I see you again?” she asked, gesturing for him to sit down.

“I don’t know. I’ll try to send letters, though. But… I can\t stay here. I almost- I almost hurt Dib. I feel like I’m only here to be the spare, and it almost led me to hurting Dib, Gaz. I can’t stay.”

Gaz just looked at him for a minute, before pulling him into a hug. “I’ll miss you,” she said, ruffling his hair.

“And I’ll miss you, sister,” Zib said as he walked away a minute later.

  
  
  
  


It wasn’t until hours later that Dib realizeed what Zib had been talking about. 

“Zim, it almost sounded like… a goodbye,” he said, eyes wide with alarm. The two looked each other in the eyes, and Dib jumped up and started running, running towards Zib’s study. Zim followed close behind.

When they got there, all the books of magic were gone from the shelves, and the furniture was pushed up against the walls. It looked like just a spare room, fallen into disuse, except it was entirely dust-free. On one table sat a note, scrawled in Zib’s handwriting.

  
  
  


**_Goodbye._ **


End file.
